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Community Corner

Patch Passport: Kid-Friendly Fun - Grayslake Parks

Take advantage of time with your kids and get out and enjoy these hot spots. Your Patch Passport gives you options for great local spots for kid-friendly fun.

Grayslake has always been a family friendly town, with fun things to do like going to the pool, the Farmers Market and the Grayslake Park District camps. But what can you do on a budget? Actually, you have several local choices. Here are three places full of fun…for free!

Alleghany Park is located on Alleghany Road in Grayslake, about one mile south of Route 120. At the park, you will find tennis courts, basketball courts, and a playground for a variety of ages.

The playground has swings, a huge web-climber, hard plastic climbers and slides, monkey bars and more. There is a special section for toddlers, as well as another area for older children. With so much to do, you could spend an entire day there.

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If time gets away from you, and you find lunchtime or dinnertime right around the corner, there is a concession stand selling food and drinks for very reasonable prices. The concession stand is open during baseball games in the evening and on weekends. There are also vending machines to provide you with bottled water. Indoor washrooms, that are neat and tidy, are provided as well. There are also baseball, softball, and soccer fields for the summer and fall leagues (fees involved).

The best part about is Alleghany Park is the variety of people you will see there, from newborn babies, through great-grandparents, all drawn to the family friendly atmosphere of the park. The most enthusiastic of spectators will be there cheering on family members, neighbors, and friends as they play their favorite sports.

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Central Park is located, appropriately, in the center of town, near the Grayslake Area Public Library and the Grayslake Aquatic Center. There is a free sprinkler park for young children and adults. The kids can run around and play in all sorts of water activated fun. Simply press a button, and the water park comes alive!

There are buckets at the top of a pole that drop water on spectators below, and rings that splash water all about. A variety of geysers shoot water from holes in the ground as well. Several picnic tables are close by so bring your own lunch to make a day of it. An added bonus: indoor, impeccably clean, washrooms.

Next to the sprinkler park is a playground, and a band shelter with summer concerts. These concerts are free to Grayslake residents. In the summer, there are events like fireworks and “Taste of Grayslake.” You can also play disc golf in the back woods between the Aquatic Center and Central park. The disc golf course is open to all residents.

Grayslake Area Public Library also offers many free programs for families. They have free summer reading programs for children through adults with prizes for all. They also have a variety of free activities from visiting guest authors and a variety of other speakers, to book clubs, crafts, and family story times.

You can use your free library card to check out books, CDs, DVDs, and even e-books. If you don’t have a card, just bring in two forms of identification showing proof of residency, and apply for a card at the circulation desk.

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